Premier League Gameweek 22: Champs and Chumps

We analyse the very best and worst of the Premier League’s fantasy performers for Gameweek 22.

Champs

Andy Carroll (West Ham United)

PlayON Price: £9.4m

PlayON Points: 3060

Andy Carroll is currently in the middle of an injury free hot streak and now has three goals in his last two starts. In Gameweek 22, he was the highest scoring player in PlayON Fantasy Football and with the kind of performances he’s currently and consistently turning in, the departing Payet is becoming a distant memory.

Only Harry Kane has had more goal attempts – eleven to Carroll’s eight – across the last two games and facing the limp defense of Manchester City next, Andy Carroll could be gifted the perfect conditions to wreak havoc and build on his five goal tally this season.

City have had a hard time of it of late, but appear to have now steadied the ship with this positive result against one of their direct competitors. De Bruyne’s fantasy potential had taken a nose dive, with the Belgian international failing to score or set up a teammate for four Premier League games prior to Gameweek 22. This performance was more like the De Bruyne that we know best, more like the creative force that has engineered a goalscoring chance every 27 minutes on average this season – ranking only behind the more bit-part Cesc Fabregas and Dmitri Payet in that regard.

If City are going to earn a Champions League spot this season, De Bruyne’s standards must maintain.

Seamus Coleman (Everton)

PlayON Price: £7.4m

PlayON Points: 2370

The Ireland captain has been an inspirational figure at Everton of late and could be in for his finest ever season for the club if he can maintain his current form.

Coleman rose to the occasion in Gameweek 22 to not only secure a clean sheet for his side, but likewise claimed the only goal and last minute winner of tightly contested match with Crystal Palace. The full-back has been unleashed in Koeman’s reworked system in recent matches, getting forward with greater frequency and to better effect than earlier in the season. No defender has has more touches in the opposition penalty area over the past four matches – 15 – and perhaps surprisingly, only Hull’s Harry Maguire has had more attempts on goal; seven to Coleman’s five.

Chumps

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)

PlayON Price: £7.8m

PlayON Points: 1000

Perhaps the finest goalkeeper in the Premier League endured possibly the most disastrous game of his professional career. The Frenchman’s two drastic errors gifted direct goals to Manchester City, yet Lloris still came out of the game with a respectable 1000 PlayON points.

Despite surrendering the early lead, Lloris still pulled off an impressive five saves to seal the draw for his side. Lloris and Tottenham have been largely exemplary in defense this season, but with Toby Alderweireld departing the field through injury and Jan Verthongen already in recovery, Lloris’ fantasy value could take a hit over the coming games.

Ragnar Klavan (Liverpool)

PlayON Price: £6.8m

PlayON Points: -50

In the absence of Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan has stepped in to fill the void, and in truth, he’s looking like an increasingly unfit deputy. Settling for draws and no clean sheets against Sunderland and Manchester United in their previous two matches, Gameweek 22 was the definite nadir.

Klavan played perhaps the key role in that low point, as Liverpool slumped to a 3-2 defeat at home to Swansea – the Welsh club’s first victory at Anfield in their 105 year history. At 2-2, the Estonian’s error at the back played in Gylfi Sigurdsson and the Icelander fired Swansea to victory. With Matip back in contention, expect Klavan to drop to the bench ahead of a crunch upcoming game with Chelsea.

Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

PlayON Price: £12.9m

PlayON Points: 750

Vardy has featured in this slot on too many occasions this season and could feature several more times before the season is out. The England international has been a shadow of himself last season, hitting the net on only five occasions in what is very much turning out to be Leicester’s difficult second album.

He struggled again in Gameweek 22, testing the opposition goalkeeper on precisely zero occasions as Southampton ran out as 3-0 victors. Vardy hasn’t scored since the Foxes’ demolition of Man City in early December and without the ACN-occupied Mahrez and Slimani for service and collaboration, that dry spell could go on for a while yet.